no BOARD OF AGRICULTUKE. 



forced over other rocks, and ultimately coming under the 

 action of water, as the ice melted, they have been rounded 

 and polished, many of them, in a remarkable manner. We 

 find ancient moraines existing all over the Northern States ; 

 and there is good reason for believing that the long ridge of 

 hills, upon one of which I have placed my stone buildings, in 

 the rear of this city, is an ancient moraine. The nature of the 

 deposits, and the formation and arrangement of the hills, 

 leads to this conclusion. There were no lateral or medial 

 aioraines formed during the glacial epoch, — only terminal 

 moraines ; and such, of course, is the one to which I have 

 alluded. 



Now, gentlemen, from the statements and facts which I have 

 most imperfectly and briefly presented, some idea may be 

 obtained of the probable origin and history of our bowlder 

 rocks. There is no other theory which will satisfactorily 

 account for their presence but the one presented, and we 

 may regard it as true until a better one is brought to notice, 

 — one more in consonance with observed facts around us. 

 This knowledge cannot but help to increase our interest in 

 these stranger rocks, and lead, not only to their further study, 

 but also to the study of our soils, so intimately connected 

 with them. 



Now, allow me to call your attention to another point ; and 

 that is, the utilization of these rocks in the construction of 

 buildings. I have long felt that they could be more "generally 

 used, without involving too much cost, especially by farmers, 

 who have them in so great abundance within easy reach. So 

 confident had I become, that in neglecting the use of these 

 rocks for building purposes we were committing a grave 

 mistake, I determined to test the matter by practical experi- 

 ment. As I have before said, the structures which I erected, 

 consisting of a large dwelling-house and stable, designed for 

 a summer residence, involved the employment of more than 

 thirty-five thousand cubic feet of bowlders, all of which were 

 taken from the surface of the hill upon which the buildings 

 stand. The area covered by the rocks, before their removal, 

 is about four acres, and so sparsely were they dispersed over 

 the field, that they were not regarded as a serious detriment to 

 its uses as a pasture. The quantity of rocks which a field will 



